With the proliferation of electronic devices in modern society, technologies for displaying information to people have become more important than ever. Advances in display technology from bulky cathode ray tube (CRT) displays to liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light emitting diode (LED) displays and other displays have fueled the popularity and ubiquity of displays in the marketplace. Emissive displays, such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, have become increasingly popular in recent years as they have many advantageous attributes such as relatively low weight, low cost, and low energy consumption compared to other types of displays. Emissive displays are increasingly found in mobile electronic devices such as notebook computers, tablet computers, smartphones, cameras, etc., and are increasingly being used in outdoor environments. The outdoor viewing scenario, however, presents increased unpredictability in terms of lighting conditions and increased range of possible ambient light conditions. These factors associated with outdoor use, particularly regarding strong ambient lighting, are particularly challenging for the emissive displays because of ambient light reflections on the reflective layers in the displays.
In order to improve their viewability, emissive displays often employ circular polarizers to reduce ambient light reflection by the reflective layers in the displays, particularly in bright ambient light conditions. However, circular polarizers reduce the light output from the emissive display by at least 50% because of the circular polarizer's handedness. When there is little or no ambient light, the circular polarizer reduces the emissive display's own light emission and reduce the brightness of the emissive display.